image: This is the Haväng megalithic grave, Sweden. view more
Credit: Bettina Schulz Paulsson
A study suggests how European megaliths originated and spread. Approximately 35,000 megaliths--structures or monuments constructed from large stones--are known throughout Europe, most of which date from the Neolithic and Copper ages and are concentrated in coastal areas. Researchers are uncertain whether the use of megaliths spread through Europe from a single origin or developed independently in different locations. Bettina Schulz Paulsson analyzed 2,410 radiocarbon dates from megalithic, pre-megalithic, and contemporaneous non-megalithic sites throughout Europe. The earliest megalithic graves emerged during a period of 200-300 years in the second half of the 5th millennium BC in northwest France, the Mediterranean, and the Atlantic coast of the Iberian Peninsula. Pre-megalithic monumental constructions were found only in northwest France. Thousands of megalithic passage graves were built in France, the British Isles, and the Iberian Peninsula during the first half of the 4th millennium BC and in Scandinavia during the second half of the millennium. The distribution of these graves suggests diffusion of the megalithic tradition via sea routes. According to the authors, the results support the view that megalith building originated in northwest France and diffused via sea routes in three main phases over the subsequent millennium. Moreover, the maritime skills and technology of megalithic societies may have been more advanced than previously thought.
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Article #18-13268: "Radiocarbon dates and Bayesian modeling support maritime diffusion model for megaliths in Europe," by B. Schulz Paulsson.
MEDIA CONTACT: B. Schulz Paulsson, University of Gothenburg, SWEDEN; tel: +46-736668160 (cell), + 41-717443543; e-mail: bettina.schulz.paulsson@gu.se